1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner that is capable of selecting a suction path from a suction inlet body or from an extension pipe connected to a cleaner body to draw in dust from a surface to be cleaned using a suction force generated by operation of a motor in the cleaner body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a vacuum cleaner is largely divided into an upright-type vacuum cleaner and a canister-type vacuum cleaner.
The upright-type vacuum cleaner has a suction inlet body directly connected to a cleaner body without passing through an extra hose or an extension pipe. Thus, the upright-type vacuum cleaner can bring the suction inlet body in close contact with a surface to be cleaned using a weight of the vacuum cleaner, thereby largely improving a cleaning efficiency when cleaning a carpet.
The canister-type vacuum cleaner differs from the upright-type vacuum cleaner in that a suction inlet body fluidly communicates with a cleaner body through a hose or an extension pipe. Due to this structure, the canister-type vacuum cleaner provides an unrestricted freedom of manipulating the suction inlet body compared to the upright-type vacuum cleaner. Accordingly, the canister-type vacuum cleaner can easily clean hard-to-clean areas such as floors, stairs, and narrow areas that the upright-type vacuum cleaner cannot easily reach or a user cannot easily manipulate the suction inlet body.
However, the upright-type vacuum cleaner and the canister-type vacuum cleaner are useful in cleaning environments or places corresponding thereto, respectively. Recently, thus, vacuum cleaners for use in both an upright form and a canister form are actively being developed.
The vacuum cleaner for use in both the upright form and the canister form usually includes a cleaner body, a suction inlet body connected to the cleaner body, and an extension pipe assembly detachably fixed on the cleaner body. The extension pipe assembly has a hose and an extension pipe. The extension pipe assembly is fixed on the cleaner body when the vacuum cleaner is used in the upright form, and separated from the cleaner body when the vacuum cleaner is used in the canister form. Accordingly, a first suction path, which flows from the suction inlet body to a dust collecting unit in the cleaner body, has to be opened when the extension pipe assembly is fixed on the cleaner body, and a second suction path, which flows from the extension pipe to the dust collecting unit, has to be opened when the extension pipe assembly is separated from the cleaner body. Due to this, the conventional vacuum cleaner presents a problem that after fixing or separating the extension pipe assembly on or from the cleaner body, a user has to open the first suction path or the second suction path by manually manipulating a separate apparatus.
To address the problem as described above, there has been proposed a vacuum cleaner having a suction path switching unit with a valve plate or door for switching the suction path according to an operation of fixing or separating the extension pipe assembly on or from the cleaner body, so that dust and air drawn in from a surface to be cleaned are introduced into the dust collecting unit through the suction inlet body in a upright cleaning mode and through the extension pipe in a canister cleaning mode.
However, in the vacuum cleaner as described above, since the suction path switching unit has the valve plate or door the air path in the switching unit has an angular space, which is capable of forming a vortex. As a result, a problem may occur, in that when the air passes through the suction path switching unit, the suction path-switching part generates unnecessary pressure loss and air-flowing noise in the air path.